


Late Night Dinner

by STARSdidathing



Series: The "You Belong With Me" Series [118]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Adorable Tony Stark, Adorkable, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chefs, Cooking, Cutesy, Developing Relationship, Fluff, Gift Fic, M/M, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:54:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24642868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/pseuds/STARSdidathing
Summary: If you’d have asked Loki two years ago, he’d have told you he hated Tony Stark.Now, his opinion was quite different.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Series: The "You Belong With Me" Series [118]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/359723
Comments: 46
Kudos: 484





	Late Night Dinner

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leikio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leikio/gifts).



> HEY. SO THIS IS FOR LEIKIO. THE SNEAKY ONE WHO DIDN'T TELL ME IT WAS HER BIRTHDAY UNTIL THIS MORNING.  
> DFNKKJGDG  
> THIS IS NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU ASKED FOR. AND NOT EXACTLY LIKE THAT PROMPT YOU MENTIONED.  
> I HOPE YOU LIKE IT ANYWAY.  
> 
> 
>   
> 

If you’d have asked Loki two years ago, he’d have told you he hated Tony Stark.

He’d have said that Tony was an arrogant businessman with no regard for the people working under him. They were just paychecks. He didn’t care for their opinions, well-being, or use as anything but commodities.

That was before Loki had come to work for Tony.

Loki had spent much of his life surrounded by political sharks and people who only cared for money. He’d chosen to be a chef out of spite and because he actually enjoyed cooking. His plan was to craft a career for himself as a world-renowned chef.

Tony had stumbled into the restaurant he worked in, taken one bite of his food and demanded to meet him. He then tried to hire him. Tony was a trust fund man-child and Loki hadn’t had the time for him.

When Tony _bought the restaurant_ in order to circumnavigate Loki’s refusal to accept the job. He’d been about to walk out when Tony had stood in his way and explained.

The man who owned the company was trying to offset it for development. Everyone would be unemployed and Tony wouldn’t have a nice, quiet place to get a meal and coffee where journalists wouldn’t surround him.

He gave Loki free run of the kitchen, let him take control of front of house. And, when Loki asked, Tony paid for the place to be redecorated, refitted and renamed.

The restaurant wasn’t _officially_ his but everyone who stepped through the door was coming for Loki Laufeyson. _Not_ , Tony Stark.

And, maybe that wasn’t enough to change Loki’s opinion.

But, when he walked out more than once to find Tony in his private booth almost passed out over the table with scribblings on his napkins and too little sleep. He softened.

When an asshole patron was ripping into one of the waitresses. Loki was coming out of the kitchen to deal with it, only to find Tony already there and standing between the customer and the waitress. He told the guy to ‘ _fuck off_ ’ despite him being a prominent customer and food critic. The restaurant applauded, but Tony had only watched him leave, checked to make sure the girl was alright then gone back to his food.

He didn’t care about the customer or the money or the reputation. He cared about the _people_.

There were a hundred other little moments that Loki had seen and categorized over the two years they’d known one another. Things that made Loki shift from biased hate to fond amusement to a soft affection for the handsome man who couldn’t boil water.

It was why, when Loki was about to lock up for the night after going over the books and Tony appeared in the doorway, he was more curious than annoyed.

Tony had a befuddled expression on his face as Loki opened the door.

“Stark?” He asked. “Did you want something?”

“Uh, dinner.” He pulled out his phone and winced. “I… thought it was earlier. Sorry.”

Loki tried not to smile as he leant against the doorframe. “When did you last eat?”

“Um.” Tony seemed to be genuinely thinking about it. “… Yesterday?”

Loki sighed, shut the restaurant doors and locked it. 

“Come on.”

He started walking down the street, but when Tony didn’t follow him, he paused and looked back over his shoulder.

“Well?” Loki said. “Do you want to eat or not?”

It galvanized Tony into action and he hurried to catch up. Loki only lived down the block. Originally, he’d got a room in a share flat because it was close to the restaurant. Now, he earned enough to live alone in a much better flat even closer.

Tony followed along passively. He didn’t speak which was a rarity for him. At least until Loki unlocked the door to the building’s foyer.

“Um. This isn’t a restaurant.”

“Congratulations for possessing a five-year old’s deductive abilities.”

Tony didn’t even have the grace to glare. He just continued to look puzzled. Loki sighed. _The fool really does need to eat more._

He held the door open. “This is my apartment building. Come inside. I’m going to cook dinner for you.”

Tony’s eyes widened. “You… are?”

“Yes,” Loki said, starting to grow impatient as he held open the door.

“But,” Tony mumbled, “you hate me.”

He sounded sad about the fact, along with resigned. It made Loki’s heart twinge. It also made his tone soften.

“No,” Loki disagreed gently. “I do not. Not for a long time.” He offered a small smile. “If at all.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Tony whispered and slowly, he started to grin.

It was a sweet, almost bashful smile. The complete opposite of his wide, charming grins, or sharp, predatory smirks.

It was the kind of look Tony often displayed when he came into the restaurant, low on sleep and food, and asking for Loki to bring him his meal.

No, Loki hadn’t hated Tony for a while. 

If he was _honest_ , he liked the quirky, caring, handsome and ridiculous billionaire with too much money and not enough sense.

When Tony stepped into the building and followed him upstairs, Loki let their arms brush. Tony looked at him with surprise, only for his grin to deepen and his arm to brush Loki’s in return. Loki felt warmth blossom in his chest. 

As they walked, Loki started planning what to make. It had been a long time since he’d cooked for someone else outside of the restaurant. 

If you’d asked him two years ago, he wouldn’t have believed what he was about to do. Now, it was an exciting end to a long day. 

After all, he had been planning to ask the other man out to dinner for weeks. He’d just needed the perfect opportunity.


End file.
